CHAPTER 8: THE JUDICIARY AND THE LAW

1. CHAPTER 8: THE JUDICIARY AND THE LAW Text: Cubbage et al., 1992

2. CHAPTER 8 • Courts: increasing role in shaping resource policies • Judicial powers (Const., Article III, Section 2) • Hear cases regarding public law • Authority to settle controversies between individuals • Review legislative acts to determine if constitutional • 3 tiers of judicial system • district courts - lowest level • appellate courts • supreme court

3. CHAPTER 8 • Laws according to origin (source) • From Constitution • Enacted by Congress • Developed by administrative agencies • Courts (precedents) • Laws also classified as: • Civil cases - between private parties • Criminal sanctions • Law • means of social control • instrument of public policy • means of seeking justice

4. Citations, Acts • Legal Citations – • Example: P.L. 92-500 (Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972) • P.L.Public Law • 92nd Congress • 500th act passed

5. Citations, Acts • Acts  passed by both Houses • numbered according to congressional session and chronological order in which the bill was passed. • Ex: P.L. 94-588 (National Forest Management Act of 1976) means Public Law, 94th Congress, 588th act passed • Administrative law – regulations developed by agencies to implement congressional laws; after a review period, regulations become administrative law.

6. Types of Laws Other arbitrary classifications of laws • Public and private law • Substantive and procedural laws • Civil and criminal sanctions • Civil suits ($ damages, compensations) • Criminal law (guilty/not guilty, no-contest)

7. Judicial Review 1. Judicial Review • Principle of judicial review established in 1803 • Integral component of checks and balances • Supreme Court began reviewing congressional legislations after Civil War 2. Facts versus Values • Courts rule on matters of fact to determine if law has been violated. • Jury trials: jury decides issues of fact, judge rules on points of law. • Judiciary will not decide on whether statute is sound or unwise  it decides on whether it is within legislature’s constitutional power to enact.

8. Judge vs. Legislator • Judges base conclusions on facts, legislators base decisions on preponderance of votes for or against an issue. • Judges determine facts from evidence, conclude based on proof presented • Legislators base decisions on openly declared opinions or biases

9. Judicial Structure 1. District Courts (or trial courts) 2. Appellate Courts (circuit courts) -- Focus on whether the law was correctly applied by the trial court • Supreme Court – 9 justices • “Standing to sue” -------- others ------- 4. Special Courts – ex. Claims, Customs & Patent Appeals, Customs, and US Tax Court 5. State Courts

10. Standing to Sue • Standing granted to interest groups to sue on behalf of natural objectsthat cannot bring suit • Concerns legal rights of natural objects (trees, wildlife, other inanimate objects)

11. Standing to Sue: Example Case • Ex case: Sierra Club v. Morton • involving a proposed ski resort in CA’s Mineral King Valley • Sierra Club opposed, sued USDI Sec. Rodgers Morton • To have standing to sue, court asked Sierra Club to demonstrate they would suffer personal injury or loss due to the development. • Sierra Club denied “standing” because it failed to prove personal injury or loss • Sierra Club appealed case to Supreme Court, rejected • Dissenting Justice William O. Douglas suggested that since trees and other inanimate objects cannot bring suit, groups should be allowed to sue on their behalf without demonstrating personal injury. --> these laid the legal and philosophical arguments in favor of legal rights for inanimate objects.

12. Judicial Actions • Criminal trials • innocent/guilty, • “no contest” verdicts and penalties • Civil cases • litigants seek money compensation or other actions

13. Judicial Decision Process • Participants: • a judge, 2 parties, prosecutor and defendant, lawyers, witnesses, and a jury • Standard proof: • civil case: based on “preponderance of evidence” • criminal cases: “guilty beyond reasonable doubt”

14. JUDICIAL DECISION PROCESS • In natural resources arena: • Courts may use the equity remedy for procedural failings (failure to follow due process or prescribed procedures). • Ex: The president’s Council on Environmental Quality examined 114 NEPA procedural-based EIS lawsuits filed in 1981. • The top 4 departments (65% of all lawsuits) targeted by the lawsuits were: Defense, Transportation, Interior, and Agriculture. • Plaintiffs were environmental groups, followed by individuals and citizen groups • 52 cases were brought due to agency failure to prepare an EIS • 58 suits claimed inadequate statements

15. Court Involvement in Natural Resource Matters: Advantages & Criticisms Advantages • Courts offer access to decision-making arena for those unsuccessful at changing agency practices, or for those with unpopular causes & modest resources • Courts provide forum for those who may have just claims, based on law, but no policy-making authority • Courts offer opportunity to secure fairly rapid consideration of an issue, esp. when temporary injunction is sought • Issues are reduced to concrete matters of substance in courts, dismissing those that lack specificity • Courts offer an opportunity for relatively independent action on issues

16. Court Involvement in Natural Resource Matters: Advantages & Criticisms Criticisms • Courts represent least democratic branch, represent fewer interests than legislatures. (Trials look at 2 parties only, but implications may affect more.) • Courts often criticized for their role in deciding technicalissues. Ex. Should judges tell foresters how to manage forest resources? • Standing to sue: environmentalists want broad standing to protect environment; development interests want specific or narrower standing strictures – who is right? • Too much judicial involvement through appeals --> can drain resources and slow down work (solved by HFRA?)